Moody’s Corporation $MCO Position Trimmed by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 315,764 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 13,537 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $143,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Kenora Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.5% in the third quarter. Kenora Financial LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 1.2% in the third quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $885,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.4% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 1,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co boosted its position in Moody’s by 1.5% during the third quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $511.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Moody’s to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $550.00 to $537.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $552.63.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $493.80 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $85.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Moody’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $402.28 and a 1 year high of $546.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $477.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $467.63.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($0.11). Moody’s had a net margin of 35.26% and a return on equity of 84.76%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 20th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Michael West sold 9,946 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.00, for a total transaction of $4,853,648.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,559 shares in the company, valued at $4,176,792. The trade was a 53.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 923 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $419,965.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,370,620. This trade represents a 1.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody’s Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.